War of Jenkins' Ear

The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and the Spanish Empire that occurred in the Caribbean from 1739 to 1748, primarily a naval war. British invasions of Panama, Venezuela, and Cuba failed, although Spain's invasion of Georgia also failed. Britain was the loser of the war, giving up their rights to the asiento, which meant that they could not sell slaves in the territories of New Spain.

Background
Ever since the 1570s, privateers of the Kingdom of England were active in the high seas against the merchant shipping of the Spanish Empire, capturing their treasure fleets that carried gold and silver from Mexico to Spain. These attacks angered Spain, although most of these attacks occurred during times of peace in Europe. After the War of the Quadruple Alliance in 1720, Spain lost their lands in Italy, and failed in their attempt to take the Bahamas from Great Britain.

After the Anglo-Spanish War of 1727-1729, King Felipe V of Spain confiscated all British ships in his harbors in New Spain. In 1731, Spanish patrol boat La Isabela boarded the British brig Rebecca off Florida and Captain Julio Leon Fandino cut off the left ear of Captain Robert Jenkins, accusing him of being a smuggler. Fandino warned Jenkins that if King George II of Great Britain wanted to resume smuggling, Spain would do the same to him. In 1738, with tensions rising between Britain and Spain over the revocation of Britain's slave trading rights (asiento) in New Spain, Britain signed the Convention of Pardo, declaring war on Spain on the pretext of the attack on Jenkins seven years before.

War
Vice Admiral Edward Vernon arrived in Antigua in early October 1739, and ordered the attacking of Spanish merchant ships travelling between La Guaira and Porto Bello. In November, the British captured Porto Bello and its silver mines, thus capturing a part of Spanish Panama. Encouraged by Vernon's feats, the song "Rule Britannia" was performed in London in 1740 in his honor. The Patriot Whigs and Tories encouraged Vernon to take larger prizes in the Gulf of Mexico, but his attempt to capture Cartagena de Indias in March 1740 failed. At the same time, a British invasion of St. Augustine in Florida failed. However, Vernon succeeded in destroying the fortress of San Lorenzo el Real Chagres in Panama on 22-24 March.

In March 1741, Vernon again attempted to take Cartagena de Indias, with an expedition of 135 transports, 29 ships of the line, 22 frigates, and 30,000 British troops. However, he had a rivalry with the land commander Thomas Wentworth, and the landings were botched. Only 4,000 Spanish troops inflicted 11,500 kills on the British Army, and the siege ended in a decisive defeat for England.

Again, Vernon redeemed himself by taking Guantanamo Bay, and on 5 March 1742 the British launched an attack on Panama City. However, the attack was not completely successful, and Chaloner Ogle was appointed to replace Vernon. He blockaded the coast of Spain itself, stopping Spain from sending troops to Italy. In 1742, Governor James Oglethorpe of Georgia defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Bloody Marsh and the Battle of Gully Hole Creek, defeating their attempted invasion of Georgia.

In 1742, the war merged with the larger War of the Spanish Succession, and King George's War in North America. The British, also occupied with France, were unable to capture Spanish convoys, and the Spanish privateers attacked British merchant shipping along the Triangle Trade routes. In 1746, the Spanish and British began peace talks, with the new King of Spain Fernando VI agreeing to stop all attacks on British shipping; however, Britain lost their slave trade rights in the Americas.